Sewing thimble



Nov. 7, 1950 E. L. SCHIAVONE SEWING THIMBLE Filed March 5, 1947INVENTOR. EDWARD JcH/A VO/VE BY fiaymm W Patented Nov. 7, 950

UNITED STATES" PATENT OFFICE SEWING. THIMBLE Edward L. Schiavone, SilverSpring, Md. Application March 5, 1947, Serial No. 732,555

2 Claims. (Cl. 223-101) advantage that it hinders, rather than helps, a

person from drawing a needle through the material being sewed after theneedle has pierced the material. This is because the conventional sewingneedle is .made throughout of a hard material which presents a slipperyouter surface. When a needle 'is gripped between the thumb and the usualthimble, as in ordinary sewing practice, it .is diificultto grip theneedle with sufficient firmness topull it through the material becausethe smooth surface of the thimble causes the needle to slip.

' It is therefore apparent that the conventional sewing thimblepartially defeats its own purpose. Sewing thimbles are employed toassist the manual sewing operation, especially when stitching thick orfirm material. When thin or light weight material is being stitched, athimble --is not a necessity as the needle is easily pierced intothematerial and then is easily gripped between the fingers andwithdrawn.

When sewing thick or firm materials, as, for example, heavy clothfabrics or leather, the use of a thimble becomes a necessity in order topush the needle into the material. The thimble prevents the needle frompiercing the fingers as the needle is being pushed into the material andtherefore serves a highly important purpose. However, although theconventional thimble is useful in this respect, it makes it moredifflcult to gri the needle sufiiciently tight to pull the needlethrough the thick or firm material.

Thus a conventional thimble is of considerable help to back-up a needlein pushing it through firm material, but because of the slippery outersurface of the conventional thimble it makes it harder to grip theneedle to fully withdraw it through the fabric. In fact, the needle canbe pulled more easily through the fabric by gripping it between the barefingers, than it can be by gripping the needle against the conventionalthimble.

In accordance with the present invention, a thimble is provided whichgives valuable assistance both in the step of thrusting a needle intothe material, and in the subsequent step of drawbetter on the finger.

ing the needle through the material. When thick or firm material is tobe sewn, and the use of a thimble is necessary to push the needle intothe material, the use of the present thimble assists, instead of hindersthe step of gripping the needle to pull it through the fabric. vantage,is obtained by, providing the thimble with a hard, strong surface zone,and with a trio'- tional surface zone.

Several possible embodiments of the invention are illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a view showing the usualmanner of gripping a needle to pull it through material being sewn, athimble made according to the invention being used,

Figure 2, is a sectional view through the axis of a thimble of theinvention,

Figure 3, is a sectional view on the Figure 2,

Figure 4, is a sectional view through the axis of a. modified form ofthe thimble,

Figure 5, is .an .elevational viewof another modification of theinvention, and

Figure 6 is a sectional view through the axis of the thimble of Figure5. I 5

Referring first to the thimble of Figures 2 and 3, the body I of thisthimble is generally of conventional formation and material. Thus thebody 1 is hollow to receive the end of the finger and is generallyfrusto-conical in shape to fit The top 8 or smaller end of the body isclosed and the base or open end has a peripheral flange 9 to strengthen,the body. It is not material whether the wall of the body is of uniformthickness.

The body I may be made of any usual hard material, as metal or a rigidplastic. For example it may be of aluminum, or of one of thephenolformaldehyde or urea-formaldehyde condensation products. Its outerclosed end is formed with a plurality of small depressions to afford theusual needle seats.

As an important feature of the invention, the base portion of thethimble is provided with a body of frictional material l0. As here shownthis frictional material is a band which completely encircles the baseof the thimble, but this is not a necessary relationship as thefrictional material may be upon only an arcuate portion of the outersurface.

Rubber, of the consistency usually employed for rubber bands, orerasers, is representative of the many materials which may be employedto provide the frictional surface. Other known This dual admaterials, assynthetic resins which present a frictional surface may be used. Thisfrictional material may or may not contain some abrasive constituent toincrease its frictional effect, as desired. For example, one of theabrasive maeraser may be distributed throughout the frictional materialH] or may simply be embedded in its outer surface. a

If the frictional =material I is in the form of a band, as is ;hereshown, it .inay be positioned upon the base of the thimble by simplypassing it over one end of the thimble. erably is made of such size thatit will be vunder tension on the thimble and will thus retain itself inposition. However, the .frictional :ma;- terial may be cemented orvulcanized in place upon the thimble and this is "to be praticedif theresilient material is merely around :an arm-- material [9 maybe of arubber IikeQmateriaL' 'WIlfiC'hld'QBS or do'es'notcontain anf"abrasive.f In Figure 4 is shown africtionalmaterial 12 which isprincipally of anabrasivematerial. For'.ex- ,ampl'e this may be the "abrasive containingsub- "stance which'is applie'dto'paPer'gin making sand- "paper oremery-"cloth. This'may be.ap plied to the thimble and heated to setitand cause it to adhere to the thimble body. Or, the inventioncontemplates cutting ."a :strip of ordinary sand- "paper of the properlength'and width and cementing its ends together after encircling 'itabout the-base of the thimble.

( Another variation of the invention "is shown inFigures and (Lin whichthe .body 13 of the thimble is of affr'ictional material such as rubper,a-rubber-li-ke plastic, or any substance such .as that of the frictional'material' l2, which has "suiiicient strength. This body !3 isofFtheusual fthimble'shape and its base portion provides the frictionalsurface against which the, needle is pressed as shown in Figure 1. 9

The band pref-;

.terials employed in making the common ink To the closed end of body I3is applied a cappiece 14 of hard, strong material such as metal or afirm plastic as, for example, one of the above formaldehyde condensationproducts. This cap-piece I4 is cemented, vulcanized,

riveted, or affixed in any other manner to the closed end of thethimble. The outer surface of cap-piece I4 is indented in the usualmanner to provide a plurality of needle seats.

0 It'wi'll be appreciatedgthatzthe thimble of the present invention isso -simple in construction that it can be made at a low cost. Theelements ":nf the thimble are easily fabricated and their assembly intothe final thimble is readily per- "formed.

-1. A sewing thimble comprising a hollow body of "relatively hard,strong material, one end of saidt body being closed and the opposite endopen, and a substantially wide flat resilient friction band encircling,the .body adjacent the open end thereof, said friction band beingtightly Theld :along the axial length of said body and extending .asubstantialfdistance th erealong providing a 'frictionalsurfaceinto.which *a needle maybe pressed and "frictionally hel'd'inpulling saidneedle through' a; material. 7 12..A'sewing thimble comprising 'a hollow"body of [relatively "hard .'str ong"'material, -said body having arelative y' wide circumferential ,groove therearound, said 'ggroov'eextending a'substanvtial ,distance alongthe'axial length of said body,and aband of1substantia1ly wide, flat resilient V ifricltion materialencircling said body and seat- 'ing in said groove, .said jfr'iction.material pre-.

:senting ;a surface into which pa :needle may be pressed and.frictional'ly lielii .in pulling the nee- Idle fthrough amaterial.

a "EDWARD TL. :SCHTAVONE.

"REFERENCES CITED .T-hefollowing neferencestare of record .in the fileof this patent;

UNITED {STATES sPAtrE'N'rs Number Name "Date 291,355 'Demme Apr."22,1884 1,109,457 gPike Sept. 1 1914 "1,191,388 .Mullen' "Sept. 5, 1916"2,207,672 Levey July 9,.1194'0

